Depuis qu'Otar est parti... 2003

Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune: A film, in which fictional characters become human by talking as real people really talk. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Bertuccelli tackles Since Otar Left... with the kind of ambitious imagination that makes one marvel at a natural filmmaker's unexpected and original choices. Read more

Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle: A moving family drama. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: This emotionally rich situation is played for all its worth by the entire cast, but the standout is Gorintin. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Wonderful family drama. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: It's a wonderful film with a love of intimacy, an eye for potent small moments that can go by unobserved and a willingness to explore the emotional complications of family relationships. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: Otar and Lenin make terrific bookends on the post-communist experience for average citizens. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Drawing on her documentary training, the director distills complex meaning into such perfectly chosen gestures as a foot rubbed, a cigarette smoked, a shampoo interrupted when (with post-Soviet-era regularity) the water fails. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Whatever film acting is about -- technique, presence or truth-telling -- [Esther Gorintin] got it. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: The kind of small film ... that expands our understanding of the emotional economy of family life, with its ebb and flow of love and hostility, secrecy and egregious candor. Read more

Marta Barber, Miami Herald: The finely crafted film shows the complex needs and anxieties of a three-generation family living in a country that has undergone dramatic political and cultural changes. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: The mulish and loving maternal sway of Eta is felt in every one of the film's lovingly articulated frames, thanks to the magnificently expressive performance of the 90-year-old Gorintin. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Ms. Bertuccelli's direction is singularly graceful in allotting enough space to each of her three co-protagonists without tearing apart the fabric of familial solidarity. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Since Otar Left sustains a perfect balance of pathos, humor and a clear-headed realism. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Since Otar Left tells a story of conventional melodrama, and makes it extraordinary because of the acting. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Since Otar Left could have played to broad comedy. Or it could have played to tearjerker sentimentality. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It is a film that understands women, but more importantly, understands life. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Read more

David Stratton, Variety: Julie Bertuccelli's very beautiful first feature is suffused with indelible humanist values and emotions. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: If Otar is, finally, a mite thin and predictably structured, that takes little away from the filmmaker and her cast, who work hard at fashioning the most outlandish special effect of all: believable human life. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: A small film of surpassing beauty and sadness. Read more